Aeroplane gun mounting



Apr. 10, 1923.

1,451,197 J. P. BALL AEROPLANE MOUNTING Filed July 15, 1921 figur l JOHNP. BALL, OF CHICAGOQILLINOIS.

AEROPLANE GUN MOUNTING.

Application filed July 13,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN'P. BALL, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois,United States of America, have invented a new and useful improvement inaeroplane gun mountings for coast protection and for the protection ofcities and villages from the attack of hostile aeroplanes.

This invention relates to devices for mounting a rotating gun within arevolving gun carriage on a set of revoluble ribs and arranged so thatwhile in fighting action the gun may be swung into any direction aboveor below the aeroplane within the scope of said revoluble ribs, andwhile at rest the gun may be concealed within the body of saidaeroplane.

This invention also relates to devices for supporting an operators chairalong with said gun carriage and revolving therewith. a turntable devicefor controlling the field of action of said gun in a horizontal circleand axial bearings for governing the elevation or depression of the gunin a vertical circle, means for giving motion to the gun in a verticalcircle about the main hinged axis of the aeroplane, means forgiving-motion to the gun in a horizontal circle within the turntable,and means for giving motion to the gun in a vertical circle through thegun-axial-bearings.

My invention also includes means, for

P placing the gun in a concealed position in the body of the aeroplanewhile the mechanism is not in a fighting position.

My invention provides improvements especially applicablegto fightingdevices in aeroplanes of this general character, and in its preferredform it utilizes two main longitudinal frame members supporting the bodyof the aeroplane, two pivoted bar members supporting a gun carriage andan operators chair and hinged to the main frame members at approximatelythe center of gravityof the aeroplane, an open passage in the body ofthe aeroplane so that the gun carriage and operators chair may revolveon the pivoted bars about the axial center pin supporting the hingedjoint.

In the accompanying drawings which show certain adaptations of myinvention Figure 1, is a crom-sectional view showing the gun and guncarriage in a fighting position, suspended by the pivoted bar members,

' turn table,

scribe in 1921. Serial No. 484,389.

from the center of the aeroplane. Fig. 2 shows a plan of the gun and guncarriage together with the operators chair suspended in the area passageof the aeroplane. Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal section of the guncarriage and turntable together with the mechanism for revolving thehinged ribs and directing the range of the gun.

Referring to the drawings A indicates the main longitudinal framemembers, B the pivoted bar members, C the central hinge, D theturntable, E the gun carriage, F the operators chair, G a gun, H themechanism. for revolving the pivoted bar members, I the mechanism forrevolving the carriage in the J the mechanism for elevating anddeclining the gun, K the operators chair supports. L represents anopening in the center approximately of the aeroplane to allow the guncarriage and parts to revolve about the central axis.

Referrin to Figs. 1 to 3, I will now ded etaiI the preferred form of myinvention in the adaptation herein illustrated.

There are two main longitudinal frame members, the basic support of theaeroplane; these main longitudinal frame members are situatedlongitudinally with the body of the machine and are applicable to anysize or shaped aeroplane and are constructed of any suitable materialand of suitable size to support the designed parts. There are twopivotedbar members B for the gun carriage support and they also consistof suitable material and designed of suflicient size to carry thesuspended members in any position and at any angle; these pivoted barsare supported to the main longitudinal frame members by means of hingesas at C which consist of bolts as shown at 1 and I bars as at 2 in Fig.3. The I bars that form the pivoted bars are free to rotate on the pinsor bolts at 1 which are held laterally in place by means of the nutheads 3 as in Fig. 2.

The turntable D consists of a ring of suflicient thickness to contain aninner slot 5 to accommodate the gun carriage wheel 6.

The turn table is bolted to the hinged rings ports the gun by an axle asat 9 so that the a mec anism of cog wheels.

gun is free to move vertically in the axial bearings.

As thus far described the gun is given three revolving motions; 1st theprimary motion, the gun, the gun carriage and parts together with thehinged ribs revolve vertically about the main axis of the aeroplane; 2ndthe secondary motion, the gun, gun carriage and parts revolvehorizontally in the turntable fixcd in the hinged ribs; 3rd, thetertiary motion, the gun moves in a vertical circle through the axialgun bearings.

The gun operators chair F is supported from the gun carriage by means ofthe rods K which are bolted at one end to the gun carriage as at 9 inFigure 3 and carrying the operators chair at the other end with a freejoint as at 10; so that the operators chair may rotate horizontally withthe gun carriage E and vertically with the axial bearings 10.

The principal purpose of my invention is to suspend a gun from anaeroplane in such a manner that a range in any direction of a sphere maybe attained; the center of the sphere being the center of the armoredaeroplane. In order to give motion to the gun in any direction anyusable power may be employed such as compressed air applied to Theprimary motion is shown as a combination of cog wheels as at 12 and anair power 13. The secondary motion is shown as a combination of cogwheels as at 14 and air power 15. The

' tertiary motion is shown as a combination gf cog wheels at 16 and airpower at 17 in ig. 3. I

It is evident that by these three motions the gun may be concealedwithin the body of the aeroplane, which is also a feature of myinvention as a disappearing gun,

' The transmission of power from the aeromotor to the mechanismcontrolling the position of the gun is also a feature of my inventionand is shown by an air compressor 19 and a compressed air tank at 20.The compressed air power may be controlled by the aero operator,instructions being given by the gun operator by means of the telep onewire as shown at 21.

As thus far described it will be seen that two principal positions ofthe gun are at tained, the one concealed and the other in fightingaction, these being described herewith in the preferred form of myinvention.

What I claim is:

1. In an air-craft the combination of a set of main longitudinal framemembers spaced apart, a supplementary set of pivoted bars hinged attheir rear ends to the central point on said main frame members so as toswing downwardly, a gun and a gun operators chair secured on the outerends of said supplementary bars, gears and geared wheels located on saidsupplementary bars and said main transverse frame members and adapted toengage gears to maintain the supplementary bars and gun and gunoperators chair in normal position, means for controlling the movementof said supplementary bars with the gun and the gun operators chair froma normal into a vertical position beneath said main transverse framemembers, means whereby the speed of the downward movement of saidsupplementary bars-may be controlled and means whereby saidsupplementary bars may be again raised to an upward and normal position.

2. In a flying machine the combination of longitudinal frame membersdisposed at longitudinal axis of the machine and extending from front torear thereof, supplementary bars pivoted at the rear ends to saidlongitudinal frame members substantially at the longitudinal center soas to revolve in a ver-* tical circle, a turn table secured in atransverse position to the-free ends of the supplementary bars andindependent of the machine body, a gun operators chair revolubly mountedin said turntable and adapted to swing in trunnions and balance so as tomaintain an upright position at all times, means for revolvingvertically said supplementary bars and means for revolving said gunoperators chair.

3. In a flying machine, main longitudinal frame members disposedlengthwise of the body of the machine in the same plane, plementarypivoted bars spaced apart and hinged at one end to said mainlongitudinal frame members and adapted to swing in a vertical circle, anauxiliary operators chair independent of the main operators chair,

' and pivotally secured to the other end adapted to rotate in a circle,means for revolving said supplementary bars, means for rotating saidauxiliary operators chair and means of communication between saidauxiliary operation and the main machine operator.

JOHN P. BALL. lVitnesses:

E. M. BALL, C, E. BALL.

